Monday, October 8, 2012

Tacos Rule at Tacocracy

Entrance to the
Northside International Airport

The humor that's a part of Tacocracy's charm starts at the front door of the storefront eatery. Storefront is literal in this case as the latest taco joint in the city takes up the space in front of a store, On the Prowl Vintage, with both located in the fictional Northside International Airport. It may be all made up, but air travel is the main theme for the décor and menu. That's a lot to digest as you pass through the front (or back) door. However, all of the satire soon ends once you order from the straightforward chalk board menu.

Walk Up Counter Service

The One Way Combination

We chose the One Way (there's also the Commute and Round Trip) consisting of four tacos of our choice, two salsas and chips for $17. It was certainly enough to satisfy our lunch appetites. Our four tacos were the Korean Beef, Duck, Adobo-Curry Chicken, and Green Chorizo from an offering of eight that day including the Taco of the Moment. There are three salsa selections from which we chose the Rojo and Pineapple. Bottled Mexican drinks are featured, but there are also your favorite sodas. It's BYOB for anything else.

Pineapple and Rojo Salsa and Chips

Chips were light with a healthy taste. I don't think they were house made, but they were still of good quality. The Rojo Salsa had a mild smoky flavor and the Pineapple Salsa was reminiscent of Salsa's restaurant when it was located in Norwood several years ago. It was always one of my favorites, but may be too sweet for some. Both were finely chopped and a little on the soupy side.

Adobo-Curry Chicken Taco

Next up was the Adobo-Curry Chicken Taco. Its special sauce and chutney proved to be our favorite of the day. Our least favorite was the Korean Beef due to its lack of flavor pizzazz from all of the ingredients. It may need a little reworking. It was a toss-up on which we liked better between the Duck and Green Chorizo. Both were good, but I was sure from the description that the duck would come out on top

Duck Taco

It was too messy to eat in the crunchy corn shell and on the spicy side for me. Others will disagree, I'm sure. The green chorizo was also seasoned with heat, but more palatable.

Seating at Tacocracy

It's counter service only with the tacos being delivered to your table. Everything else seemed to be "ask for it" from the efficient, but not overly friendly staff. While there was plenty of atmosphere inside, the vibe was rather complacent in comparison to some other recent taco eateries around the city. The lack of alcoholic beverages that usually go hand-in-hand with taco dining doesn't help that cause. Perhaps we were just there too early in the day for much excitement to have built up. But for those diners that are interested in a creative and alternative dining experience where the power comes from fresh ingredients and flavorful combinations, it's certainly worth a trip to Tacocracy.

About Dexter…

Dexter—professional listener

He ran his consulting business from a home he shared with us from the fall of 2010 to the spring of 2014. We all got along very well and liked to entertain and get together with our friends and families. He was a great listener and enjoyed tuning in to our thoughts on the entertaining things in life. We hope you enjoy the posts Dexter shared with us previous to his death in April of 2014. We promised him he would always be a part of the blog we all started together.